Being transfigured by the Lord

The event of Christ's transfiguration, like that of Jesus' triple temptation by the devil which we considered last Sunday, is also narrated by all three Synoptics: Matthew, Mark and Luke. This is no doubt an indication of its paramount importance as far as the entire Christian message is concerned.

It may also be interesting to note that the same three disciples who were with Jesus on Mount Tabor, namely Peter, James and John, were the only ones who had also been with him on two other significant occasions: the raising from death of the daughter of Jairus, and Our Lord's agony in the garden of Gethsemane. These three events must have been intended, perhaps more than others, to focus on the divinity of Christ, which was normally veiled by his humanity and is now allowed to shine forth.

Moses and Elias, who appeared with Jesus on Mount Tabor, represent the Law and the Prophets, both of whom played such an important role in the formation of the Israelites as one people and in the preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

As Jesus himself once said, he had not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it. Peter, besides enjoying such a wonderful experience, may have thought that this vision was the beginning of the glorious reign of the Messiah. In his confusion and eagerness he even offered to provide three huts to give shelter to Christ, Moses and Elias. But then the voice of the Father, coming from the clouds as a manifestation of God's presence, repeats the declaration proclaimed on the occasion of Christ's own baptism: "This is my beloved Son; to him listen!" This is then the culmination of Mark's Gospel. Henceforth the disciples owe obedience to Christ, and no longer to the Law and the Prophets.

The Transfiguration of Christ, together with the appearance of Moses and Elias and the declaration of the Father, was thus for the disciples a confirmation of all that Jesus had taught them. It was undoubtedly intended to strengthen the faith of the apostles and prepare them for the Passion. According to Pope Leo the Great, the chief purpose of the Transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the Cross from the hearts of the disciples.

What does Christ's transfiguration on Mount Tabor mean to us, besides being a 'proof', if we may so call it, of his divinity? It is, no doubt, an invitation to each of us as Christians to allow God to 'transform' us into Himself and to enable us, as followers of Christ, to transform the world we live in.

If we look deeply enough and with sincerity into our own lives, we cannot help discovering that there is much that needs to be changed if we truly want to allow Jesus to take his place in our hearts and minds and making us authentic witnesses of him in the world, a world which is further distancing itself from Him the more it goes on attaching greater importance to matter than to spirit, to selfishness rather than care for others, to pleasure rather than selfless love.

The holy season of Lent, no doubt, affords us courage and strength to face the challenges that lie before us. Today's world, not excluding the so-called Christian areas of it, while priding itself on more and more discoveries in science and technology, has been constantly easing out Christ's salvific message from its list of authentic values, of those values which alone can quench man's deepest urges.

In an age of surrogates, like the one we are living in, only Christ's teachings can make the difference. "You can change the world!" This message, propagated all over the world by the Christopher Movement, is still directed to us.